


A Hopeful Rhythm

by fraudulentzodiacs



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefighters, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-01-13 09:31:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18466204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fraudulentzodiacs/pseuds/fraudulentzodiacs
Summary: A collection of fics set in my 9-1-1 AU.





	1. First Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> Some things you should know here:
> 
> Michael is a firefighter alongside Max, Cameron, Kyle, and Liz (their captain). Isobel is an LAPD officer and married to Cameron. Alex is Cameron’s best friend and new to LA after being discharged from the Air Force following his injury. Michael and Maria dated until Maria’s mom died and Maria left to travel Europe and she’s recently returned and is a 9-1-1 dispatcher. 
> 
> If there’s a pairing/character/whatever from this AU you’d like to see, just let me know! i’m picking and choosing storylines from 9-1-1 and moving some things around to fit the AU (Example: Alex is Maddie in this scenario, and Michael is Buck, but obviously they’re not siblings here).

The knocks on the door are drowned out by the noise of the party, unheard by iz or Jenna. Michael slipped past Kyle to throw the door open, finding one of the most attractive men he’d ever seen on the other side. 

  
“Uh, hi.” The man said. “I’m looking for Jenna Evans-Cameron?”  
  


“Yeah, you’re in the right place.” Michael replied, stepping aside to allow him to enter the house. “Jenna and Iz are…somewhere.” Michael watched as the man used a crutch to step inside. Suddenly, it clicked and Michael smiled.   
  


“You’re Cam’s friend, from Iraq. Uh…Alan?”  
  


“Alex.” He corrected. “Alex Manes.”  
  


“Michael Guerin.” Michael stuck his hand out, and Alex shook it firmly as Michael tried to ignore the shock of electricity her felt rush up his arm at the touch. “I work with Iz.”  
  


“You’re a firefighter?”  
  


“Yeah, with the 118. What about you?”  
  


“Uh, nothing yet. I just moved out here, my enlistment ended and Cam suggested that it would be a good place for a fresh start.”

“LA’s good for that.” Michael replied. “Where are you from?”  
  


“Roswell, New Mexico.”  
  


“Really? Alien crash landings and all that?”  
  


“Yeah.” Alex chuckled. “Land of fairy tales and government conspiracies.”  
  


“Hey, I believe in aliens.” Michael held his arms out. “This whole, great big universe and we’re the only intelligent life out there?”  
  


“Who said anything about intelligent?”  
  


Michael threw his head back and laughed, shaking his head. “You definitely sound like a friend of Cam’s.”  
  


“Alex, you made it!” Cam’s voice rang out, his friend’s wife walking up to join them. “I see you’ve met Guerin. He came as a package deal when I married Iz.”  
  


“Aw, c'mon Cam, you know you secretly love me.”  
  


“Jury’s still out.” Jenna’s fond smirk, however, told Michael differently. “Come on, I want to introduce you to Maria.”  
  


“Maria’s here?” Michael asked. He’d been here for an hour and hadn’t caught sight of his ex-girlfriend. They’d been tentatively friendly since she’d returned from her ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ whirlwind tour of Europe, and he was hurt at the thought that she was actively avoiding him.   
  


“Yeah, she got here about half an hour ago. Alex is looking for a job, and I think he’d be perfect for 911.”  
  


“Oh yeah? I know I’d love to hear his voice on the other end of the line if it were me.”   
  


“God Guerin, can you not hit on my friend for at least the first ten minutes he’s in town?”  
  


“You know he can’t help it, it is impossible for Michael Guerin to keep it in his pants.” A new voice called out, and Michael turned his gaze to Isobel, who came up behind her wife and wrapped her arms around her waist.  
  


“I managed it just fine with you.”  
  


“Because I’m a lesbian, Michael.” Isobel replied.   
  


“I’m taking Alex away now before you two scare him even more.” Jenna interrupted, stepping out of Isobel’s embrace and wrapping her arm through Alex’s free one.   
  


“See you around, Guerin.” Alex said, his smile small and adorable. He watched until they disappeared into the ktichen before he turned back to Isobel, who had a knowing look on her face.   
  


“What?”  
  


“I know that look.” Isobel replied, raising an eyebrow. “You like him.”  
  


“I just met him, Isobel.” Michael argued, and Isobel shook her head.   
  


“This is good, you’re finally getting over Maria.”  
  


“I got over Maria months ago.”  
  


“If you say so.”  
  


“You, uh, think you can put in a good word for me?” Michael shot his best friend his best charming smile, but after so many years Isobel was immune.  
  


“He’s Jenna’s best friend, please don’t have a fling with my wife’s best friend.”  
  


“Hey, that was Michael 1.0.” Michael argued. “Michael 2.0 is not a love 'em and leave 'em type.”  
  


“It’s super charming when you talk about yourself in the third person. Not annoying at all.”  
  


“Love you too, Iz.”  
  


“I have to go be a hostess. Go find Max and Liz.” Isobel walked away, waving over her shoulder.   
  


Michael scanned the crowd, the mix of his and Cam’s fellow firefighters and Iz’s police buddies was familiar and comfortable. Still, he couldn’t get his mind off of Alex. He intrigued him, and that didn’t happen very often - especially after the disaster that was his relationship with Maria. He wanted to seek him out, but he knew that he’d be occupied with both his pseudo-sister-in-law and ex-girlfriend for the foreseeable future. He took a long drink from his beer, resolving to find Max and Liz like he’d been told to by Isobel. Still, he had a feeling he hadn’t seen the last of Alex Manes.


	2. Call Me Anytime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> larenoz requested Malex having increasingly long late-night phone calls in the 9-1-1 AU. This is…not that. But, this IS their first phone call and I plan to expand on it later. :)

When Michael gives Alex his phone number after the party at Isobel and Cameron’s, he doesn’t really think twice about it. He likes the guy, sure, but there’s something about him that makes him hesitate when it comes to pursuing him. Something that tells him that Alex isn’t ready for something like that. That works fine for Michael, who’s still hurting from the meltdown that was his breakup with Maria.

He completely forgets that he even gave him the number until after the 7.1 earthquake that rocked Los Angeles. He spent the better part of a day digging survivors out of the rubble of a high-rise hotel (and even one from high above the ground where the wreckage off the hotel was hanging above the street precariously). Liz had sent them all home almost as soon as they had returned to the station, everyone dusty and dirty and completely exhausted. Michael had faceplanted on his bed and prepared to sleep for sixteen hours when his ringtone filled his bedroom. Michael groaned and reached out blindly for the device, not even looking at the display before he answered.

“‘Lo?” He mumbled, and there was a pause before the other voice spoke.

“Guerin? It’s Alex. From, uh, from the party?”

“Oh, hey.” Michael replied, flipping over so he was lying on his back on the bed. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just…wanted to make sure you were okay, Cam said today was intense for y’all.”

“I’m fine. It was…it was a bit insane there for a minute. We almost lost Cam.”

“She told me. She’s tougher than people give her credit for.”

“I didn’t think it was possible for her to be any more badass.” Michael admitted, and Alex chuckled.

“Yeah, she saved me more than once in Iraq.”

“Well, then, I’ll be sure to thank her the next time I see her.” Michael drawled. “How was your day? First earthquake, I’m assuming?”

“Yeah, first earthquake, first day on the job.” Alex replied.

“Talk about trial by fire.”

“Yeah. But it was also…I haven’t felt that useful since…” Alex trailed off, and Michael hummed.

“I get it.”

“It felt nice to be doing something, helping people, even if it was just over the phone.”

“It’s not just anything.” Michael argued. “What you do is important, it saves lives.”

“I think I’m starting to see that.”

“You should ask for a ride-along with Isobel. See the difference you make.”

“I might do that.” Alex conceded, and they fell into a prolonged silence.

“You’re probably exhausted.” Alex finally said. “I should let you go.”

“No, it’s fine. I…I like talking to you.” Michael argued, followed by a loud yawn. Alex laughed, and Michael felt something warm in his belly at the sound.

“Get some sleep, Guerin.”

“Call me again?” Michael asked, a smile growing on his face.

“Sure thing. Goodnight.”

“Night.” Michael hung up his phone, staring at it for a moment until Alex’s name disappeared. He tossed the phone to the other side of the bed and grabbed his pillow, dark eyes and hair on his mind as he fell into an exhausted sleep.


	3. Kiss Me (Before They Turn The Lights Out)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More 9-1-1 AU??? More 9-1-1 AU!! Thanks to @reachedthebitterend and @bisexualalienblast for helping me with karaoke song choices. FYI, the Blink-182 song is “Miss You” :)

When Max grabs him after their shift ends, informing him that Liz and Isobel have demanded happy hour at their favorite bar, Michael just nodded and followed his friend out to where their captain was waiting by Max’s truck. Now that they were off-duty, Max slipped an arm around Liz and kissed her in greeting. Michael rolled his eyes and threw his bag in the back of the truck while he waited for them to climb in. It had been a long shift, and he really wanted to go home and sleep, but his friends had been pushing him to socialize more since the end of his relationship with Maria. Something, Michael admitted, was made more difficult by the fact that Maria’s best friend was his boss and his friend’s girlfriend.

Isobel, Cameron, and Kyle were all waiting when they arrived, securing a table near the karaoke stage. Michael groaned, but headed straight for the bar to order a drink. If his friends were going to be singing, he needed a drink.

“Fancy seeing you here.” A voice behind him greeted, and Michael turned to see Alex smiling at him. Michael leaned against the bar and smiled back.

“What are you doing in a badge and ladder dump like this?”

“Cam invited me.”

“Can I get you a drink?” Michael asked, and watched as Alex nodded, a slight blush on his cheeks.

“It’s weird, talking to you in person instead of on the phone.” Alex mused as he stepped up to the bar, as close to Michael as he could get without being inappropriate.

Michael wished that he would move closer.

“Weird bad or weird good?”

“Definitely good.” Alex replied, a smile on his face as he took his drink from Michael. Before Michael could reply, Isobel sidled up to them, looping an arm through Michael’s.

“Come on, Maria and Liz are about to sing.”

“Maria’s here?” Michael asked, and was surprised to find that the familiar pain in his chest he normally felt when he thought of his ex-girlfriend wasn’t there.

“Yep, so come with me so I don’t have to watch my brother make moon-eyes at Liz by myself.”

“You know your wife is literally right there.” Michael pointed out as Isobel dragged him to the table, Alex following behind them.

“Just sit.” Isobel ordered, pushing him into the chair next to hers. Alex settled in next to him, chuckling as he watched Michael get manhandled.

Liz and Maria led the crowd in a rousing rendition of You Oughta Know that had even Michael impressed, and the drinks flowed as happy hour turned into an increasingly drunken night out. By his third whiskey, Michael was feeling loose and happy, slinging his arm over the back of Alex’s chair. Alex seemed to be a little better off, though he was subtly leaning toward Michael throughout the night.

“Are you gonna sing?” Alex asked after Max and Liz belted out “Islands in the Stream” with drunken glee.

“No, I don’t sing.”

“Manes is a fantastic singer.” Cameron interrupted, practically in her wife’s lap as she leaned across the table to talk to Michael.

“Cam…” Alex warned, but MIchael shook his head.

“Oh, now I have to see it.” MIchael interrupted. He expected Alex to fight him, but instead the other man only rolled his eyes and stood up, heading over to the sign-up table. There was no wait, so Michael watched as Alex climbed the stage. He looked surprisingly confident, and Cam leaned over Isobel again to grab Michael’s attention.

“Before he enlisted, Alex was going to come to LA to make music. He’s really good.”

A vaguely familiar melody played over the speakers, and it took a minute for Michael to recognize the old Blink-182 song, a smile spreading on his face as Alex began to sing, his voice soft and smooth, and Michael couldn’t take his eyes off of the other man as he performed. The rest of the bar seemed to agree with him, and the crowd erupted into cheers as he finished the song. Alex’s smile turned bashful as their table stood up to cheer for him even louder as he returned, taking his seat next to Michael.

“That was amazing.” Michael told him, leaning in and dropping a hand on Alex’s thigh.

“Thanks.” Alex replied, dropping his hand on top of Michael’s to keep it there.

The night wound down after that, Isobel and Cam practically pawing at each other as they tumbled into their Uber, Max sober so he could drive Liz home, offering Kyle a ride as well.

“I can take Michael home.” Alex offered, hovering just behind Michael.

“Thanks, Alex.” Max replied, waving goodbye as he guided Liz and Kyle toward his truck.

“My building’s actually only a few blocks away.” Michael gestured down the street in the general direction of his apartment.

“I’ll walk you.” Alex replied, shrugging.

The two men fell into step side by side, their hands brushing half a dozen times before Michael gathered the courage to reach for Alex’s hand, holding it gently in his own. Alex leaned into him, his gaze on the street in front of them, though Michael didn’t miss the smile on his face.

“This was fun.” Alex mused as they walked. “It’s been a while since I’ve had…friends.”

“You sure picked an interesting bunch.”

“I think you’re pretty okay.” Alex replied, looking at Michael with affection. Michael felt a smile growing on his face, and turned his gaze up to the sky.

“You have a nice smile, why do you always try to hide it?” Alex asked, and Michael shrugged. “ **I’d do anything to see you smile**.”

Michael slowed them to a stop, tightening his grip on Alex’s hand until the other man turned to look at him.

“I really like you.” Michael admitted.

“I really like you too.” Alex replied, stepping further into Michael’s space. Michael brought his free hand up to cradle Alex’s face, his stomach flipping as he felt Alex lean into his hand. Michael leaned down as he watched Alex’s face drift closer to his until he could feel Alex’s breath on his cheek.

“We shouldn’t do this.” Michael whispered. “Not now.”

“Why not?” Alex asked in the same hushed tone.

“Because, I’ve been thinking about kissing you for weeks. And, when I kiss you for the first time, I want to do it when we’re both sober. I want us to mean it.”

Alex nodded, taking a step back from Michael, though he thankfully didn’t let go of Michael’s hand.

“I want us to mean it too.” Alex replied, a small smile on his face. “Let’s get you home.”


	4. Alex Interlude

Alex gets the text early on a Tuesday morning. He reached for his phone, expecting a good morning text from Michael. Their relationship hadn’t progressed past their almost-kiss after the firehouse’s happy hour, but Michael still called and texted him every day, and it had become a bright stop in Alex’s morning. He felt the floor disappear underneath him, however, when he saw the message from an unknown number.

_Hello son_.

Alex dropped the phone onto the floor, his breath coming in shallow gasps as he panicked.  _It couldn’t be_. He reasoned.  _There’s no way_. He’d done everything right, everything he could do to keep his father from finding out where he went after his enlistment was done. He’d moved halfway across the country, rented his apartment through a shell company he’d set up, left zero trace in Roswell of where he was going. He picked the phone up again, his hands shaking as he unlocked it and re-read the message. He quickly blocked the number and threw the phone back on the bed, cradling his head in his hands as he worked through his calming exercises. His shrink had originally taught him the coping techniques to deal with his PTSD after losing his leg, but he found them far more useful when confronted with the monster that haunted his nightmares, the monster that he feared still lurked around every corner - the monster that was his father.

Two days later, Alex was still avoiding his phone when Michael called for the fourth time. He threw the blanket off, sighing heavily before he answered.

“Hi.” He said in a small, tired voice that even he recognized.

“Are you okay?” Michael’s worried voice filled his ears, and Alex sunk into the comfort that his voice brought him.

“Yeah, I’m just…dealing with something.”

“You sound exhausted.  **How long has it been since you’ve slept?** ”

“Uh, it’s been a while.” Alex admitted.

“What can I do for you?”

“Nothing, I just…I need some time.”

“Okay.” Alex heard the hurt in Michael’s voice and he felt tears stinging his eyes. “Call me when you’re ready?”

“I will, I promise.”

“Take care of yourself Alex.” Michael ended the call, and Alex let the tears flow. He had to keep Michael away If his father had tracked him down, if he knew where he was, he couldn’t risk Michael’s safety because of his own screwed up relationship with his abusive father.

He wouldn’t let Michael get hurt because of him.


End file.
